Method and apparatus for correlation of intersections of network resources

Abstract

One particular implementation of the present invention may take the form of a method for correlating partial views of network resources into normalized or aggregated views for use by an administrator. The implementation may compare a newly detected resource against the known set of normalized resources of the network to correlate the new resource with an existing network resource. More particularly, one method for correlating network resources may compare key/value pairs associated with a new resource with key/value pairs associated with a first normalized resource. If the new resource does not correlate to the first normalized resource, the method may then compare the key/value pairs of the new resource to the key/value pairs of the second normalized resource. A second implementation may compare a unique key/value pair to a map containing the unique key/value pairs of each normalized resource, until the unique key/value pair is found. Once a normalized resource is found with the same unique key/value pair, each remaining key/value pair of the new resource may be compared with the key/value pairs of the matching normalized resource. If the key/value pairs for each resource matches, then the new resource correlates to the normalized resource.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for managing a network, the method comprising:
 detecting a new resource on a network comprising a plurality of existing resources, wherein each of the plurality of existing resources comprises a plurality of key/value pairs associated with an identifying feature of the existing resource, including at least one unique key/value pair; 
 creating a map of the at least one unique key/value pair for each of the plurality of existing resources of the network; 
 determining whether the new resource is a partial view of the at least one existing resource by comparing only one unique key/value pair of a plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource to the map of the at least one unique key/value pair for each of the plurality of existing resources and, in the event that the unique key/value pair associated with the new resource matches one of the key/value pair associated with one of the plurality of existing resources of the network, comparing each remaining key/value pair of the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource to each remaining key/value pair of the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the one of the plurality of existing resources of the network; and 
 correlating the new resource with the at least one existing resource as a management access point for the at least one existing resource. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 correlating the new resource with the at least one existing resource in the event the new resource is a partial view of the at least one existing resource, the partial view of the at least one existing resource including a newly detected access point; and 
 generating a new normalized resource view of the new resource in the event that the new resource is not a partial view of the at least one existing resource of the network. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein the correlating operation further comprises:
 merging the partial view of the at least one existing resource with a normalized view of the at least one existing resource; and 
 providing the merged normalized view of the at least one existing resource to a network user through a user interface, wherein the network user may access the normalized view of the at least one existing resource through the user interface to alter the configuration of the at least one existing resource on the network to manage the network. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3  wherein the normalized view of the at least one existing resource includes at least one access point to manage the at least one existing resource and the partial view of the at least one existing resource includes a newly detected access point to manage the at least one existing resource. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4  wherein the merged normalized view of the at least one existing resource includes the at least one access point to manage the at least one existing resource and the newly detected access point to manage the at least one existing resource. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  wherein the network user may manage the at least one existing resource on the network by altering the configuration of the at least one existing resource through the access points included in the merged normalized view of the at least one existing resource presented to the network user through the user interface. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 matching the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource to a plurality of key/value pairs associated with a second one of the plurality of existing resources of the network in the event that the key/value pairs associated with the new resource do not match the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the first one of the plurality of existing resources of the network. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , in the event that the unique key/value pair of the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource does not match with any key/value pairs associated with the plurality of existing resources of the network, further comprising:
 creating a new normalized resource from the new resource. 
 
     
     
       9. A system for managing at least one resource of a network, the system comprising:
 a computer comprising one or more processors; 
 a detecting module configured to detect a new resource on the network comprising at a plurality of existing resources, wherein each of the plurality of existing resources comprises a plurality of key/value pairs associated with an identifying feature of the existing resource, including at least one unique key/value pair; 
 a comparing module configured to compare the new resource with the at least one existing resource to determine if the new resource is a partial view of the at least one existing resource by comparing only one unique key/value pair of a plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource to a map of the at least one unique key/value pair for each of the plurality of existing resources of the network and, in the event that the unique key/value pair associated with the new resource matches one of the key/value pair associated with one of the plurality of existing resources of the network, comparing each remaining key/value pair of the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the new resource to each remaining key/value pair of the plurality of key/value pairs associated with the one of the plurality of existing resources of the network; 
 a correlating module configured to correlate the new resource with the at least one existing resource as a management access point for the at least one existing resource. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9  wherein the correlating module is further configured to:
 correlate the new resource with the at least one existing resource in the event the new resource is a partial view of the at least one existing resource, the partial view of the at least one existing resource including a newly detected access point; and 
 generate a new normalized resource view in the event that the new resource is not a partial view of the at least one existing resource of the network. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9  further comprising:
 a user interface module configured to present access points of the at least one existing resource of the network to a network user, wherein the access points allow the network user to alter the configuration of the at least one existing resource of the network to manage the network. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11  wherein the correlating module is further configured to:
 merge the partial view of the at least one existing resource with a normalized view of the at least one existing resource. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12  wherein the normalized view of the at least one existing resource includes at least one access point to manage the at least one existing resource and the partial view of the at least one existing resource includes a newly detected access point to manage the at least one existing resource. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13  wherein the merged normalized view of the at least one existing resource includes the at least one access point to manage the at least one existing resource and the newly detected access point to manage the at least one existing resource. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14  wherein the user interface module is further configured to:
 provide the merged normalized view of the at least one existing resource to the network user through the network interface, wherein the network user may access the normalized view of the at least one existing resource through the user interface to alter the configuration of the at least one existing resource on the network to manage the network.